Implementing the Farm Bill – A Pre-Election Update
November 2008
Happy harvest to all you OFAN readers. We have a lot to tell you about in this update, including a cornucopia of Farm Bill implementation news, significant updates in the world of organic farming, and a special request to find out what you want the next President's organic priorities to be. Plus, we included important action alerts from some of our allies. Enjoy reading, and if you have any feedback, let us know!
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Help Us Identify Organic Priorities for the Next President!
The Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is putting together a briefing book to identify key agricultural issues for the next presidential administration to consider and act upon in the first term. OFRF will be developing recommendations on organic agriculture policy, and we want to hear from YOU. What should the next president’s organic priorities be? Send your thoughts and ideas to Tracy Lerman, Policy Organizer by November 10th: tracy@ofrf.org or (831) 426-6606 x 108.
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Implementing the Farm Bill
The Farm Bill has been in the hands of US Department of Agriculture officials since it passed Congress in June and farmers, along with agriculture researchers, food systems advocates, nutrition and anti-hunger groups, and probably you are all wondering when the programs will actually start doing what they say they’re going to do. The policy team at OFRF has been working on the implementation of the organic programs that we advocated for in the Farm Bill to ensure that they are developed in such a way that maximizes benefits to organic farmers. Below is an update on where our priority programs stand to date.
Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI)
The post Farm Bill landscape for USDA organic research and education is starting to take shape. It is mostly a positive picture but we really have our work cut out for us to ensure the legislative and funding gains translate into real progress over the next few years. Key things we'll be focusing on in the next few months are stimulating a lot of good proposals, getting good reviewers into the system, and making sure the program keeps its money.
Appropriations Battle
As you know, OREI funding has been threatened by both the Senate and Bush Administration’s FY09 Budget proposals. Many of you called and sent letters and emails to your members of Congress, and these advocacy efforts have not gone unnoticed. Though we won’t know the outcome of the 2009 budget until early next year, Congress has heard the drum beat for organic, and knows that OREI’s supporters will staunchly defend its full Farm Bill funding amount. In the meantime, Congress has passed a continuing resolution of the FY08 budget until March 6, 2009. We will keep you posted on this issue as developments unfold.
Implementation
USDA will not be holding an official listening session for OREI, but will be seeking input on the program during the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) Farm Bill Forum in Indianapolis next month. Despite threats to OREI’s funding from both the Senate and the Bush Administration’s budgets, USDA is moving forward with the assumption that it will have the full $18 million in funding for FY09 and will be issuing a Request for Applications (RFA) in January of 2009. OFRF will alert OFAN members of the RFA when it is released.
Organic Certification Cost Share Program
USDA has made available 2008 Farm Bill funding for the National Organic Certification Cost Share Program in all 50 states. Organic producers can apply for reimbursement of up to 75% of the cost of certifying their operations, with a cap of $750 per payment per year. Producers can apply to be reimbursed for organic certification costs incurred in FY 2008 and 2009. State departments of agriculture will be disbursing the money for growers. For information on how to get reimbursed, please contact your state department of agriculture. If you have trouble finding the right person in your state or your state department of agriculture has not made cost-share funds available to organic producers, please let us know! Contact Tracy Lerman, OFRF Policy Organizer at tracy@ofrf.org or (831) 426-6606 x 108.
Conservation Programs
Organic provisions included in the Conservation Programs in the 2008 Farm Bill are the newest gains for both organic farmers and those wishing to transition to organic. Two main wins for organic are an organic conversion support program under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and a requirement that a “crosswalk” between the Conservation Security Program (administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service) and the USDA National Organic Program be created to reduce the application burden and facilitate participation of organic producers in both programs. NRCS was supposed to finish writing the draft rules that will govern these conservation provisions in September, but have now extended that deadline to December.
Because the interim final rules have yet to be issued, there are still a lot of unknowns with regards to how the new organic transition program within EQIP, as well as the mandate from Congress to make conservation programs more accessible to organic growers will unfold. OFRF is working with our allies to educate NRCS about organic farming systems, specifically about the conservation benefits of organic practices, and to ensure that these programs are made accessible to farmers using organic farming systems. We are also working to ensure that technical assistance is a core component of the organic conversion program.
You can help! Farmers like you can get involved at both the local level and the state level to shape how NRCS works with farmers and ensures that they recognize the important conservation benefits of organic farming practices. Here’s how:
1) Get involved with your Local Work Group. Local Work Groups provide advice to NRCS concerning implementation of conservation programs at the local level. This is a place for farmers to give input about resources and practices they think should be prioritized for cost-sharing contracts.
2) Get involved with your State Technical Committee. State Technical Committees provide recommendations for establishing technical guidelines and program criteria and priorities necessary to carry out conservation provisions of the Farm Bill.
Members of the public are allowed to participate in both Local Work Groups and State Technical Committees. To find out more about getting involved, please contact Tracy Lerman, OFRF Policy Organizer, at tracy@ofrf.org or (831) 426-6606 x 108.
Although the interim final rule won’t be published until December, farmers who want to enter into contracts with NRCS, either to transition to organic farming practices or to obtain cost-sharing for organic practices that also provide conservation benefits, must sign up before the EQIP deadline (likely the end of 2008) in your state passes. Visit your local USDA Service Center to find out how to apply.
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program
The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP) is a competitive grants program created in the 2002 Farm Bill and funded for the first time in the 2008 Farm Bill at $75 million. The USDA is seeking input on developing this program and has held several listening sessions soliciting oral comments from stakeholders. OFRF funded beginning organic farmers Jamie Collins from Monterey, CA and Jeremy Barker-Plotkin from North Amherst MA to attend a listening session in Washington, DC on October 27 and deliver oral comments on the importance of funding grants that provide training to beginning farmers who want to farm organically. Both Jeremy and Jamie’s comments will be posted on our website along with comments delivered by OFRF Policy Associate Zach Baker.
There is also a written comment period which will be open until November 14, 2008. OFRF will send out a separate email with more information about this comment period. In the meantime, if you would like to submit comments and need some guidance, please contact Tracy Lerman, Policy Organizer at tracy@ofrf.org or (831) 426-6606 x 108.
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative
Due to an upgrade of the grants system at USDA, the Request for Applications for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), (the 2008 Farm Bill predecessor to the National Research Initiative and the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems Program), will be rolled out differently than has been done in the past. USDA will issue an announcement in November, with full details about proposals that can be submitted to the AFRI program for funding and sufficient information to allow interested parties to begin to prepare their grant proposals. The official Request for Applications (RFA) will be released in January 2009, but will have a shorter application window then usual – possibly only 30 days from the release of the RFA. Researchers planning to apply for AFRI grants should plan to use the November announcement to begin preparing their proposals.
OFRF is working to ensure that the program announcement in November, and the January 2009 RFA, include a call for proposals on the new classical plant and animal breeding priorities included under AFRI in the 2008 Farm Bill.
Resources
For more information about the ongoing and vast 2008 Farm Bill implementation process, visit these links:
Also, there is still time to register for the Organic Trade Association’s Farm Bill Conference: Growing US Organic Agriculture - Accessing the 2008 Farm Bill. This conference will help farmers, farmer organizations and others learn how to access and use the funding allocated for organic agriculture in the 2008 Farm Bill. For more information visit the OTA website. OFAN members can receive a discount by entering the promotional code "OFRF08" on the registration form.
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Organic Farming Updates
Landmark Victories for Organic Farmers
California organic farmers celebrated two recent, precedent-setting victories.
In late September, Santa Cruz-based Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo was awarded $1 million in a lawsuit against pesticide applicator Western Farm Service. Jacobs Farm sued Western Farm Service because of loss of sales resulting from contamination of their 2006 and 2007 by organophosphate pesticides due to evaporative drift. While pesticide drift from aerial spraying is regulated, this is the first time a pesticide applicator has had to pay damages resulting from evaporative drift. Read the full article at this link.
Also in late September, California Assembly Bill 541 was signed into law. This legislation, the most far-reaching of its kind to be passed in the U.S., prevents lawsuits from seed companies against farmers whose fields are contaminated with genetically engineered seeds, and also releases farmers from liability should their contaminated crops further contaminate other farms. Previously, farmers whose fields have been contaminated by patented GE seeds have been the victims of harassing and financially devastating lawsuits. For more information, visit the Californians for GE Free Agriculture website.
Organic Pasture Rule
After much anticipation throughout the organic community, the newly proposed Organic Pasture Rule has finally been published by the National Organic Program (NOP). NOP will be accepting comments on the rule until December 23, 2008 OFRF will send out our comments to the OFAN network along with guidelines on how you can submit your own. For more information, visit the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Association website.
Organic Can Feed Africa
Despite the widely held belief that organic farming is incapable of producing the large yields necessary to feed large, hungry populations, a new study by the United Nations suggests that organic practices being used across the African continent are delivering sharp increases in yields. For more information, download the report on the UN website.
New ERS Report on Organic Handlers
A new report by USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) confirms a shortage of domestic supply in the organic sector and discusses how organic handlers have responded to the supply constraints they face. The report, Using Vertically Coordinated Relationships to Overcome Tight Supply in the Organic Market, can be downloaded from the ERS website.
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Action Alerts from Other Groups
Stop the Greenwashing of Industrialized Fish Farming!
(Thanks to Food and Water Watch)
The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB ) - at the request of the industrial fish farming industry - is considering allowing farmed fish to get the organic label even though the practices are anything but organic. Tell the NOSB to stop the greenwashing and vote against lowering the bar for organic standards. More…
Comments Needed By November 3, 2008 To Stop GE Papaya In Florida!
(Thanks to Thomas Wittman, Global Justice Ecology Project, and the Center for Food Safety.)
Help stop the commercial planting of genetically engineered papayas in Florida and the mainland US - the first major cultivated GE tree on the US mainland. The USDA is accepting public comments between now and November 3, 2008 on a petition that would allow commercial growing and marketing of the first genetically engineered (GE) papaya trees on mainland US soil. If approved, this would remove all regulatory oversight of this GE variety by USDA of a virus-resistant papaya tree known as the Ring Spot Virus Resistant Papaya. More…
Voice your Support for Biodiversity in Organic Farming!
(Thanks to Wild Farm Alliance.)
Encourage the National Organic Standards Board to make sure the USDA's organic program follows its own conservation rules! A natural resource and biodiversity conservation standard is part of the National Organic Program rule, but organic certification agencies are still not required to address this standard as part of the accreditation process. More…
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As always, we can’t express enough the importance of farmers’ voices in shaping federal policy. Stay tuned, keep up the good work, and keep in touch!
Join the Organic Farmers Action Network today!
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